Reconnection Story: Aamina from Ethiopia

Aamina a 65 year old woman was born and brought up in Dire Dawa town in the Eastern part of Ethiopia. In 1992 after the fall of the Ethiopian government, her husband became a political target. He was constantly subject to discrimination, torture and threats for allegedly working with the Oromo Liberation Front.

Aamina was detained twice at a military camp in Sebatenya and Zetenya in Dire Dawa without trial. It is during this period that her husband disappeared and she was questioned about his whereabouts.

Aamina fled Ethiopia after one of her sons was killed in front of her. She came to Kenya with four of her children, but her misfortunes continued even after that, since three of her children disappeared at different occasions. She reported the incidents to police and relief organizations, but all in vain.

A few months ago a project worker from Refugees Consortium Kenya (RCK, one of Refugees Uniteds’ local partners)  introduced Aamina to Refugees United. The project worker asked her to register at the Refugees United website and start searching for her children, but at first she did not take the service seriously.

A few months later one of her younger friends called Abeba also told Aamina about the Refugees United. Abeba asked Aamina to try the service, since she was looking for her family. Aamina created an on-line profile and Abeba helped her to search for her children. With the help of Abeba, Aamina was able to locate her adopted daughter, who currently resides in the USA.

Aamina was overwhelmed with joy and at first did not know what to do or say. With the help of Abeba she started communicating with her adopted daughter. She is most thankful to Refugees United and the project worker from Refugees Consortium Kenya, who introduced the service to her. She hopes that all refugees, who have lost hope of finding their loved ones, will one day do just as she did.

* All names have been changed to protect the identity of the individuals.